creamy colorful ham and veggie soup

Welcome to Post 2 for today: It is all I can do to keep from typing how SOUPER- delicious this recipe is…..

Haha. I crack myself up sometimes. 🙂

Moving on.

I was looking for something hardy to feed my extended family, as we all got together over the weekend, and my best friend, Kasey, suggested this. I am not a fan of veggie soup really, but when I heard it had a cup of cream in it, I was a bit more convinced that I needed to give ‘er a go. Not only was it delicious, but it was colorful and pretty too. AND every one gobbled it up! A keeper for sure, this one will make the rotation again!!!!!

Here is the trick, this recipe calls for “real” ham cubed and I’d throw in the ham hock too if I had it! Not the processed boneless stuff. Unfortunately for me, I only had the cubed stuff on hand, so I made it work, I will give you the 2 variations below so you can decide which one to make based on your meat status……

Creamy Colorful Ham & Veggie Soup

Ingredients

6 cups Water
2 cubes Chicken Bouillon
1-½ pound Cooked Ham Cubes
6 whole Medium Potatoes, Peeled And Cubed
1 whole Onion, Chopped
½ pounds Frozen Peas
2 cups Fresh Corn, Off The Cob (canned If You Have To, But Fresh Is SO Much Better!)
1 can (14 Oz. Size) Green Beans
2 cups Frozen Sliced Carrots
Salt And Pepper
2 teaspoons Or More Parsley Flakes
1 can (14.5 Oz. Size) Diced Tomatoes
1 cup Cream
Basil
Garlic Powder

Boil water with bouillon cubes and ham cubes for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, peel and cube potatoes and cut onion; add to the pot along with frozen peas and corn. Cook 10 more minutes. Add drained green beans, carrots, generously add salt and pepper and parsley. Cook 10 minutes more. Add tomatoes and cream, bring to barely a boil just to heat through. Taste and season with basil, garlic powder and more salt and pepper to taste. I was very surprised at how much I used to season this, but the end result? Amazing!

It was a huge hit at our family function!

Option 2 goes like this: if you have the ham hock leftover from your holiday function, throw it along with 1 1/2 pounds of ham, cubed, in 6 cups of water; simmer 30 minutes. Continue as above, eliminating chicken boullion cubes. You also will not need as many seasonings.